Vice President Kamala Harris was aiming at former President Donald Trump when she blasted his appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, but Gold Star family member Christy Shamblin was stung by the backlash.
Ms. Shamblin, whose daughter-in-law Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee was one of 13 service members killed in the botched 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, said she began receiving death threats after Ms. Harris accused Mr. Trump of politicizing his attendance at the Aug. 26 memorial service.
“We didn’t receive any death threats until after she put that on social media,” Ms. Shamblin told Higher Ground podcast host Billy Hallowell in an interview. “And when I say death threats, I mean to my phone—human beings, calling my phone, calling me by name, knowing where I work, saying that they want me dead.”
She added that “I don’t believe that that was her [Harris’s] intention, but that’s exactly what has happened. And it’s not just one or two. I mean, I have hundreds of social media messages with the same tone and intention. And it’s heartbreaking.”
Ms. Harris could have broached the issue privately with the Trump campaign, but instead “she catapulted this into a different level of political mudslinging,” said Ms. Shamblin.
“The reality is if President Trump and his team misstepped or did something that was out of line, then there’s recourse for that. Take it up with them,” she said. “We did not do anything out of line. We were not being disrespectful. We love our fellow Gold Star families.”
To make matters worse, she said, “we have other Gold Star families that are upset with us. And that breaks my heart because their heroes are just as important as Nicole.”
The third annual memorial service honoring those killed by a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport became a campaign issue after Ms. Harris said the Trump team had an “altercation” with cemetery staff over unauthorized filming.
Ms. Harris said in an Aug. 31 post on X that her Republican opponent “disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.” Mr. Trump said he posed for pictures with the families at their request.
An Army spokesperson said a cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” by Trump team members after objecting to them engaging in campaign-related photography and filming in Section 60, while Mr. Trump has said there was “no conflict.”
Gold Star family members representing eight of the 13 killed in Afghanistan, including Ms. Shamblin, followed up with a video condemning Ms. Harris and defending Mr. Trump.
Ms. Shamblin said the families saw no evidence of a scuffle in Section 60, the burial site of military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Campaign-related activity is prohibited in such areas.
“President Trump’s team and his staff were respectful and it was beautiful. It was a beautiful healing day for our families,” Ms. Shamblin said. “We didn’t see any altercation at the grave sites. We didn’t hear any altercation.”
She emphasized that Mr. Trump was invited to the event, which was “all about listening to our stories about our loved ones.”
“We would never set something up like this or use it to be politically motivating in any way, shape or form,” she said. “We were looking for comfort and a peaceful day for the third-year death anniversary of our loved ones. And President Trump did that for us.”
It was a long, hot day, she said, but Mr. Trump stayed with the families through the service and the walk to the graves in Section 60.
“He had brought flowers to lay on each of the gravestones, and he did that,” she said. “And he spoke with the families about our heroes. He made phone calls to family who weren’t able to be there.”
The political fallout from the disastrous withdrawal means that the troops killed in Afghanistan are rarely acknowledged by the administration—or forgotten entirely.
During the July presidential debate, President Biden overlooked the 13 service members when he claimed he was the only president this century who didn’t have “any troops dying anywhere in the world.”
“It’s like silence for our kids, for our heroes,” Ms. Shamblin said. “It’s like a blackout.”
Christy Shamblin, Mother-In-Law of Sergeant Nicole Gee… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/aAtRHE454N
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2024
Ms. Shamblin said the families have received “no communication, no letters, no nothing, zero” from the vice president.
“I truly believe that they dismiss our armed services members as disposable. And that’s the only reason I can think of it,” she said. “You know, for a little bit, I thought maybe they’re ashamed, like they feel bad. No, they don’t. They truly believe that our armed service members sign their lives over and that they may or may not come home in a casket, and that that is what they signed up for.”
The families did meet with Mr. Biden at Dover Air Force Base in 2021 when he attended the transfer of the service members’ coffins.
Ms. Shamblin said she remembers being “shocked” by Mr. Biden’s deteriorating condition.
“He seemed to be struggling a little bit,” she said. “And it shocked me to see all these other politicians, people in suits in the room, not noticing. And I don’t have any malice towards anybody, I really don’t, but it was shocking.”
Mr. Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in July following a presidential debate that spurred alarm about his physical health and mental acuity. Democratic delegates nominated Ms. Harris for president last month at the party’s convention.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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